Skip to main content
Thursday, October 29, 2026Oct 29

This story is free to read.

Less alcohol, or none at all, is one path to better health

FILE - Bottles of alcohol sit on shelves at a bar in Houston on June 23, 2020. Moderate drinking was once thought to have benefits for the heart, but better research methods starting in the 2010s have thrown cold water on that. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)
FILE - Bottles of alcohol sit on shelves at a bar in Houston on June 23, 2020. Moderate drinking was once thought to have benefits for the heart, but better research methods starting in the 2010s have thrown cold water on that. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File) FILE - Bottles of alcohol sit on shelves at a bar in Houston on June 23, 2020. Moderate drinking was once thought to have benefits for the heart, but better research methods starting in the 2010s have thrown cold water on that. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)


It’s wine time. Beer Thirty. Happy hour. Five o’clock somewhere.

Maybe it’s also time to rethink drinking?

Moderate drinking was once thought to have benefits for the heart, but better research methods have thrown cold water on that.

“Drinking less is a great way to be healthier,” said Dr. Timothy Naimi, who directs the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research at the University of Victoria in British Columbia.